Four Important Lessons We Can Learn From Women Leaders

by Ruth Ann John

The theme for 2022’s International Women’s Day, Break The Bias, calls on the world to acknowledge the conscious and unconscious prejudices they hold against women and other marginalized identities. According to the female empowerment community Lean In Foundation, about 75% of women around the world are harmed by biases at work. Additionally, less than one-third of employees claim to recognize bias when they witness it, which makes it difficult for companies to remedy the problem.

One way to overcome bias is to amplify unheard voices. The challenges women and other marginalized groups face as they navigate the systems that were designed against them can give them unique perspectives from which they can draw valuable insights. By listening to these underrepresented points of view, organizations can propel themselves to new heights. In this article, we’ll go over a few valuable lessons individuals and organizations can learn from female leaders.

Julie Sweet: Use your privilege to empower the underserved

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet didn’t stop at pursuing individual success. Rather, she used her position to bring to light the challenges women face when navigating the status quo. In an interview with the New York Times, Sweet emphasizes the role of business leaders in mending the gender gap. She leads by example: her company, Accenture, has created a diverse workplace, with men and women equally represented in her staff. According to Sweet, if other business leaders made workplace equality a priority, more women would be empowered to pursue higher goals and fight against the toxic standards set against them.

Haben Girma: Change begins when you challenge oppressors

Growing up deafblind in a world that didn’t take disability needs in mind, Haben Girma pursued a career in law in order to give her pro-accessibility advocacy a bigger platform. After graduating from Harvard Law, Girma filed a case against online document service Scribd, pushing to make the platform more accessible to individuals with vision problems. As a disability rights activist, Girma continues to pursue advocacy work, meeting with employers around the world to educate them on the importance of inclusion in the workplace. Though taking a stand against large institutions can be challenging, Girma understands that change cannot occur unless somebody is brave enough to take that step.

Carolin Hafner: It is important to contribute and help others

In 2020, the theme for International Women’s Day was Each For Equal. It called each individual to use their everyday thoughts and actions to open minds, improve situations, and challenge biases and discrimination. In LHH’s article on 12 inspiring stories celebrating women they highlighted global project manager Carolin Hafner. She discussed the importance of reciprocity. When women, and to another extent, other underrepresented groups, lend each other support, they can empower one another to pursue their goals. And when women receive help, they will be more likely to provide help to those who need it, creating a world that is more enabled and equal.

bell hooks: There is power in embracing differences

As a feminist author and cultural critic, the late bell hooks often discussed women's empowerment in her books, usually with an emphasis on intersectionality. In Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope, hooks writes about how embracing differences is the key to creating a world of meaningful community. When empowered by closeness in spite of differences, humanity can move through their fear of the dominant cultures that keep them oppressed. And when women stand together, respecting each other’s backgrounds, they can more effectively combat the systems that rob them of opportunities.

Throughout history, biases against women, people of color, people with disabilities, and other marginalized identities, have kept these groups out of positions that enable them to enact meaningful change. For the world to combat these biases, it needs to listen to the voices that have long been ignored.